. >> republicans, margaret, are not blameless in this, bush era tax cuts, wars in afghanistan and iraq are major drivers. the spending cuts that a balanced budget amendment would require could cripple the economy. austerity hasn't worked in europe. why does marco rubio think it would work in america? >> look, what you have to keep in mind is when marco rubio said that. he said that in his response to the president's state of the union right before rand paul was about to give the tea party response to the state of the union. what marco is trying to do here is politically position himself as almost a unifier of the tea party and mainstream conservative fiscal conservatives in the republican party. so, look, the balanced budget amendment is red meat to the tea party. they believe in it because they want fiscal responsibility. i think that was a political and tactical play on his part more than a reasonable or achievable fiscal possibility. >> john? >> bumper sticker politics. it's not serious. it doesn't reflect the realities of government, but it's a popular and powerful contrast the wit